Circle Time

And I have finally achieved a Sunflower Circle with 4 corners! Now on to the borders.
This has become known 'round here as the "deviled egg blanket". The first time I spread it out, hubby and I both looked at it and thought "yum, plates of deviled eggs!" Now I can't get the image of eggs out of my mind. But trust me, these are sunflowers - that's what the directions say.

And the Work Goes On

Work is continuing on the Sunflower Afghan. I've got 8 completed sunflowers and 3 totally completed motifs. This should all connect into one big circle of sunflowers.

I'm really pleased with my progress so far. I am trying to become more project, rather than process, oriented. I started crocheting, and knitting too, because I am just fascinated by the process of taking a single strand of thread or yarn and a couple of sticks or a hook, and creating something that looks nothing like a single strand of thread or yarn. There is just an endless variety of stitch patterns that can be created and I want to learn them all.

So what happens is that I find an interesting pattern and I pull out my supplies and set out working the pattern until I see how it all goes together. As a result, I have way too many works in progress (WIP) that I know I will never finish. Need to break this cycle because, honestly, the WIP are starting to pile up around here.

And that means that I am going to finish this afghan before I start any thing else. Then I'll finish up hubby's socks. Then there's this really neat top in the new Tahki crochet book that I want to make. And I've got yarn for another pair of socks for me. And the list goes on....

Decoupage & Crochet

So the subject of decoupage has come up on Crochetville and reminded me of these plates I made a few years ago. I had made several mini doilies and when trying to find a use for them, I came up with this idea. It's actually a set of four, but one plate doesn't look that good so it will remain private. I took clear glass dessert plates, centered a small doily on the backside, covered the doily with blue tissue paper, and very carefully brushed a layer of Mod Podge over the entire back of the plate. Sprinkled glitter over it all and let it dry. The glitter didn't become very glittery, but it did come out looking rather snow covered. I've actually used these for cookies and such.

The afghan kit I ordered from Mary Maxim in January has been on back-order but it finally arrived! Joy & glee has spread across the home because I had just about given up on ever receiving this kit and I really, really wanted this pattern. I love this design and I already have a good start on it. It is a bit of a challenge but I'm having fun with it.

Yarn Bee Topper

Hubby surprised me with several skeins of the prettiest yarn. A bit fuzzy, but the most wonderful autumn shades. I knew I wanted to make a coat and, after a couple of days of searching for the perfect pattern, I settled for the Colorwaves Topper from Interweave Crochet fall 2005 issue.

Yarn is Yarn Bee brand from Hobby Lobby. I've lost the labels so I don't know what the color name is.

I added rows (without the increases) to make this longer than the pattern. I also made a belt to tie at the waist. This yarn is almost too slippery to be tied though.

The coat turned out great. It is soft and a little fuzzy. Kinda has a swing-coat style. I really like it and I've worn it several times.

And another pic just to keep you informed as to what really goes on 'round here: